For this reason the tourist who is a philosopher will not regard too seriously the dicta of the learned as to which of these lesser paintings is or is not of the first rank in the order of merit. What of it if the guidebook does not indicate by its little stars that this is a picture for one to go into raptures over, if the sacristan or guide passes it coldly by? If it appeals to us by all means let us pause and admire it, let us study it, find out about it, learn something of its history and that of the unknown artist who painted it. Indeed, if on such closer inspection it still appeals to us, let us buy it if we can--but at all events let us enjoy it to the utmost, for of such joys Flanders is full. In out of the way corners everywhere one can find genre pictures like those of Tenier, brilliantly coloured groups suggestive of Rubens, scenes of bucolic feasting in imitation of Jordaens. And here and there, who knows, perhaps one may yet discover an original by one of these greater artists or their rare predecessors, and retire on the proceeds! Who knows? The visitor to the Royal Museum of Fine Arts at Antwerp should not leave without devoting at least a day to the modern paintings. To an American, accustomed to museums where long walls filled with dreary mediocrities are illuminated only at rare intervals with something altogether fine and satisfactory, these modern galleries are a treat. Picture after picture, room after room--all are beautiful and worthy, many are splendid. The collection of modern paintings is not large as European galleries go, some five hundred and fifty altogether, but the general average of quality is exceptionally high--much superior in this respect it seemed to us than the far larger collection at Brussels, though it is not so regarded by the critics. The interiors of Henri de Braekeleer, and his charming Nursery Garden, for example, what could be finer? The "Ancient Fishmarket" at Antwerp by Frans Bossuet, a native of Ypres; the "Lull before the Storm," by P. J. Clays, of Bruges, one of whose paintings is in the Metropolitan Museum at New York--all these are notable. So are the historical pictures of Baron Leys, Guffens, Louis Gallait and Charles Verlat--but the list is too long. These pictures are not to be described, they must be seen. Individually the savants may quarrel as to their merits, but, taking them all together, these paintings--for the most part by Flemish artists--prove that the great traditions of Rubens and Van Dyck, Jordaens and Teniers, have not been forgotten in their native land and that modern Flemish art is a worthy successor to the greatness of the past.